Bagram: The US departed from the Bagram airfield in Afghanistan quietly at night without notifying the new commander, who discovered the exit two hours after the US left, say Afghan military officials.
The United States Department of Defence announced that they had completely vacated their biggest airfield in Bagram, Afghanistan, before a complete withdrawal scheduled for August this year. This airfield in Bagram was the American epicentre in the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
The airfield faced a blackout 20 minutes after the American troops departed, ABC News reported. This allowed looters to ransack the buildings, taking anything up for grabs.
“We (heard) some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram … finally by seven o’clock in the morning, it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” said Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram’s new commander.
America’s departure 20 years later without informing the Afghan officials has left many Afghan soldiers with a sense of abandonment. The U.S military spokesmen did not comment on the hasty and quiet leave from the Bagram airfield.
Last week, however, U.S military spokesperson Col Sonny Leggett said the handover of many Afghan bases was underway since President Joe Biden’s announcement of US withdrawal in Afghanistan. The statement also added that the departure was coordinated with Afghan leaders.
Afghanistan has seen a surge in Taliban activity and many districts in Northern Afghanistan have fell into their control. This surge in Taliban activity comes as NATO and the US troops withdraw from Afghanistan. Most of the US soldiers have left and the rest will leave once a protection agreement on Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport with Turkey is reached. AFP
